Opodo travel news

Boeing has delivered the first B747-8 to be fully line-fitted with the AeroMobile in-flight mobile service.

The aircraft was delivered to the German carrier Lufthansa, which last week announced plans to roll out the service across its entire long-haul fleet in 2014.

Alongside the B747-8, the B777-300ER, whose customers include Thai Airways, Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines, has also been cleared for AeroMobile line-fit at Boeing.

UK-based AeroMobile's technology allows passengers to use their own mobile phones to call, text and browse the internet while on board. The company has roaming agreements with more than 240 mobile phone operators, who pass the charges on to their own customers.

'Consumers expect to be connected 24/7 and being up in the air is no longer an exception,' commented AeroMobile chief executive Kevin Rogers.

'In 2013, we saw close to an 80% increase in the number of passengers using their mobile phones. Data usage increased ten-fold and SMS traffic increased by 50%.'